Vlad the Impaler
Vlad the Impaler 'was a robot that competed in the first 5 competitions of ''BattleBots. It was armed with lifting forks. In later seasons it had a piston on top that would right it if it got flipped over. It was built by Gage Cauchois. Vlad the Impaler was retired after being destroyed by MechaVore in Season 3.0 and was replaced by '''Vlad the Impaler II, which fought in Season 5.0 and had a similar design to Vladiator. Vlad won the Season 1.0 heavyweight championship. Vlad the Impaler II still competes today under ownership of RoboGames. Gage Cauchois also built the superheavyweight Vladiator, which won the Season 3.0 superheavyweight championship. The original Vlad the Impaler recently resurfaced under ownership of Team Tiki, with all cosmetic damage from MechaVore repaired. Robot History Season 1.0 After moderate success in American Robot Wars for several years, and winning the 1999 Las Vegas BattleBots championship, Vlad the Impaler entered Season 1.0 ranked #1. It easily beat GoldDigger and Tazbot in its first 2 rounds, and was headed to the quarterfinals against OverKill. Both robots approached timidly, until OverKill decided to charge at Vlad the Impaler and swing its knife blade at the top of Vlad's armor. Vlad the Impaler then pushed OverKill across the arena before backing off. OverKill then continued to strike Vlad the Impaler across the top, causing various scrapes and dents in Vlad's armor. Vlad the Impaler retaliated by ramming OverKill onto the killsaws, then got underneath OverKill and bent the wedge armor so much OverKill had to drive on its back. Vlad the Impaler then rammed OverKill again and pushed it back onto the killsaws, which split the wedge armor of OverKill in half. Vlad now clearly had the upper hand, almost flipping OverKill upside down with its forks. OverKill then began swinging its blade quickly in desperation, but none of the strikes landed a blow on Vlad the Impaler. In dramatic fashion, OverKill then drove itself over the killsaws and flipped itself upside down, making the knife blade useless from the front. Vlad charged and pushed OverKill into the spikes, further ripping the wedge armor apart. Vlad then rammed OverKill into the arena wall so quickly the arena Lexan shook, and it partially damaged the entrance area. This attack damaged OverKill's drivetrain, allowing it to only move backwards and forwards. Vlad the Impaler lifted OverKill back onto its correct side, but it was too little, too late. OverKill's tire became punctured by the killsaws, which further limited motion to only being able to spin forward in a clockwise direction or backwards in a counter-clockwise direction. OverKill languished in the arena corner, before Vlad the Impaler ended the fight with a few more hits. The decision was unanimous, with a 8-1 victory for Vlad the Impaler. Vlad's next fight in the semifinals was against Punjar. Both robots drove slowly and cautiously to each other, not landing any hits until the 20th second, where Vlad the Impaler attempted to ram Punjar, but lifted the forks too early to get underneath. Punjar then turned around and got Vlad in it's scoop, which allowed it to push Vlad the Impaler across the arena. Vlad managed to escape before Punjar pushed it into an arena hazard, however, so the fight continued with no decisive hits. Both robots then attempted to charge at each other, but the killsaws were activated at just the right moment to send Vlad the Impaler flying backwards across the arena. Vlad then got stuck on a section of the BattleBox's floor, but managed to free itself and charged once more at Punjar, nearly getting underneath but Punjar slid out of the attack and pushed Vlad again. The fight looked one-sided at this moment, until Vlad the Impaler charged across the arena at top speed, got its left fork successfully underneath Punjar, and rammed it into the spikes, which got Punjar on top of Vlad the Impaler. Vlad then reversed Punjar into the pulverizer, which caused a few dents in Punjar's armor. Eventually, Punjar was let free, and drove itself over the killsaws. Vlad then got underneath Punjar again, and nearly flipped it onto it's side. Vlad the Impaler continued ramming Punjar, and pushed it into the pulverizer once more, and then ran over the killsaws, which tore up some of Punjar's armor. Punjar returned the favour by pushing Vlad over the killsaws. One last ram across the arena impaled Punjar into the wall on it's side, before the fight ended. Another 8-1 decision for Vlad the Impaler meant it was going into the final against Voltarc. The fight began with Voltarc charging across the arena, but drove itself onto Vlad the Impaler's lifting forks. Luckily, Voltarc escaped before any pushing was done. Not much happened for a while, before Vlad the Impaler got underneath Voltarc and rammed it so fast Voltarc was flipped upside down. Voltarc attempted to self right itself, but the sri-mech was in the wrong direction so it could not self-right. It tried several times, but to no avail. Vlad the Impaler won by a KO in 1 minute 42 seconds, and with it, the BattleBots heavyweight championship for a second time in a row. Season 2.0 Ranked #1 for a 3rd consecutive season, Vlad the Impaler was a force to be reckoned with. It won its first fight against Technofool by forfeit, as Technofool had electrical problems. This put Vlad into the Round of 16 against Mjollnir, which was broadcast on TV. The fight began with Mjollnir chasing down Vlad, and attempting to strike down with it' Toe Crusher-esque weaponry, but veered off course and ended up no where near Vlad the Impaler. Mjollnir then swung its weaponry and managed to hit Vlad on the side, but got caught up in Vlad the Impaler's forks. This allowed Vlad to push Mjollnir into the pulverizer. It struck many times, as Mjollnir had got its weapon stuck in the pulverizer holder. Eventually, Mjollnir got free, but with a wonky left wheel. Mjollnir managed to retaliate by striking Vlad the Impaler squarely on the top, and pushed Vlad over the killsaws. Vlad the Impaler, however, got it's forks underneath Mjollnir's wheel and drove it across the arena, before Mjollnir managed to get free and drive over the top of Vlad. This maneuver caused major damage to the electronics of Vlad the Impaler though, and forced its lifting forks and sri-mech into a permanently upright position. Vlad decided to start attacking Mjollnir with its rear plate, to try and push it across the arena, but Mjollnir slid out of the way. Vlad the Impaler then crashed into Mjollnir with it's uprooted forks and nearly took off doing so. Vlad then drove over the killsaws once more. It nearly captured Mjollnir in its forks despite the damage caused, but was unable to capitalize on it. Mjollnir, however, swung its weapon straight into a killsaw and caused a bright shower of sparks. Luckily for Gage Cauchois, he managed to set Vlad the Impaler's lifting forks back down for the last minute of the fight, but was unable to fix Vlad's sri-mech. The fight did not have much action after that, with Mjollnir hitting Vlad on the top a few times and Vlad the Impaler nearly catching Mjollnir in its lifting forks a few times. However, with 20 seconds left in the fight, Mjollnir slammed its weapon so hard into the BattleBox's floor it snapped off, and left Mjollnir without a weapon. This move decided the match and Vlad won with a decisive 34-11 victory. This moved Vlad the Impaler into the quarterfinals against Tazbot for a grudge match. Both robots charged at each other but Vlad the Impaler struck first and rammed Tazbot into the spikes. Vlad then took a run at Tazbot again, but Tazbot managed to lift Vlad slightly with its turret arm. Tazbot then lifted Vlad the Impaler into the killsaws. Vlad then retaliated by doing the exact same thing to Tazbot. Both robots then lifted each other with their weapons at exactly the same time and sent them both nearly tipping over. Finally, Vlad managed to perform a match-deciding move by charging at Tazbot and flipping it over with its lifting forks. Tazbot attempted to self-right but Vlad the Impaler hit Tazbot before it could perform such a move. It flipped Tazbot back over anyway. Tazbot then lifted Vlad into the killsaws again, but Vlad the Impaler retaliated by ramming Tazbot with its back plate. Both robots then locked their weapons again, but Vlad was on top this time, flipping Tazbot onto its back for a second time. With Tazbot in a vulnerable position, Vlad the Impaler took advantage by slamming Tazbot into the spike strip and causing that side of the arena's lexan to shake from the impact. Vlad then kept ramming Tazbot into that same wall to prevent it from self-righting. With 3 seconds left on the clock, Tazbot finally self-righted, but was unable to do anything in the short amount of time left. Vlad the Impaler won with a 29-16 decision. Amazingly, for the third competition in a row, Vlad was pitted up against Voltronic, but this time it was the semifinals, rather than the final. Both robots wasted no time attol by charging at each other, with Vlad nearly getting a lift on Voltronic, but escaped, almost exactly like in the Season 1.0 finals. Voltronic then got underneath Vlad the Impaler and attempted to use its lifting device but had to back off before it could be used to Voltronic's advantage. Vlad the Impaler then ran over the killsaws, but turned around and lifted Voltronic with both its forks, which caused Vlad to win the 2 previous times but this time around, Stephen Felk managed to move Voltronic out of the way. Vlad the Impaler then hit Voltronic on the side, before both robots ran over the killsaws to meet each other in the center of the arena. Vlad then got another near-flip on Voltronic, but got out of the way of Vlad the Impaler again. Vlad got under once more, but Stephen Felk drove Voltronic out of harm's way yet again. A carefully timed killsaw pop jumped Vlad the Impaler into the air, where Voltronic was waiting directly below, but just like Voltronic had done 3 times, Vlad dodged Voltronic's moves. For a while, neither robot was able to land a significant match-changing move, until the 99th second, where Vlad the Impaler got under Voltronic, and just like the 2 Heavyweight finals preceding this one, flipped Voltronic completely over. This move landed Voltronic onto the killsaws, which caused a shower of titanium sparks. Voltronic attempted to self-right, but was too slow and Vlad rammed it into the spikes. Voltronic tried self-righting again and again, but the arena wall prevented a successful move. Vlad then finished the match by impaling Voltronic onto the spikes and won by a KO. This knocked Voltronic out of the competition and pushed Vlad the Impaler into the final against a well known rival of Vlad, BioHazard. Both robots dashed across the arena, avoiding hazards and each other, until BioHazard got a lift on Vlad the Impaler and flipped it upside down. Vlad was able to self-right, however, and the fight continued. Vlad then got underneath BioHazard and pushed it across the arena, but escaped before any major damage was done. BioHazard then caught the front of Vlad the Impaler and tried to lift it onto its side, but couldn't. Vlad got underneath BioHazard again and manged to slam BioHazard into the spike strips. Vlad the Impaler then got underneath BioHazard a third time and rammed it into the spikes again. After a few more hits by both bots BioHazard finally seized the oppurtunity for another flip. Vlad, of course, self-righted again. Vlad the Impaler then made the mistake of driving near the pulverizer, to which BioHazard responded by pinning Vlad under the pulverizer with its lifting arm. After a few hits the pulverizer broke off its shaft, but bent Vlad's self-righting mechanism in such a way it was unusable for the rest of the fight. The remainder of the match involved both bots driving around each other looking for the opportunity to strike, but with not many decisive moves. The buzzer sounded and it was left up to a judges decision, which Vlad the Impaler lost, 18 - 27. Wins/Losses * Wins: 19 * Losses: 5 Category:Heavyweight Robots Category:Robots that are still fighting today Category:Heavyweight Champions Category:Robots in the Combat Robot Hall Of Fame Category:Robots that fought on television Category:Heavyweight Runner-Ups Category:Robots armed with lifting weapons Category:BattleBots Competitors Category:Robots with more Wins than Losses Category:Invertible Robots